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Making Literature Matter with 2016 MLA Update

THIS TITLE HAS BEEN UPDATED TO REFLECT THE 2016 MLA UPDATES! Our editorial team has updated this text based on content from The MLA Handbook, 8th Edition. Browse our catalog or contact your representative for a full listing of updated titles and packages, or to request a custom ISBN.Students have always responded powerfully to the memorable stories, poems, plays, and essays gathered in distinctive clusters in Making Literature Matter’s thematic anthology. At the same time, the book’s chapters on reading, writing and research help students harness those responses into persuasive, well-supported arguments about the issues raised by the literature. As ever, the new edition of Making Literature Matter reflects John Schilb and John Clifford’s careful attention to emerging pedagogical needs and trends. In response to instructor requests, they have expanded their treatment of argumentation and research, and refined their approach to literary genres. Further, they read widely to identify some of the most engaging fiction, poetry, drama, and nonfiction published recently, and based their new choices for the sixth edition on how well that literature raises and explores issues that matter to students right now.

Table of Contents

*New to this edition

PART ONE: WORKING WITH LITERATURE

1. What Is Literature? How and Why Does It Matter? James Wright, Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota (poem) How Have People Defined Literature?What Makes Literature “Literature”? Maxine Kumin, Woodchucks (poem) *Lydia Davis, The Outing (story)Why Study Literature in a College Writing Course?What Can You Do to Make Literature Matter to Others?Summing Up

2. How to Read Closely Basic Strategies for Close ReadingClose Readings of a Poem Sharon Olds, Summer Solstice, New York City (poem)Applying the Strategies

Make Predictions Reflect on One’s Personal Background Read for Patterns and for Breaks in Patterns Read for Puzzles, Ambiguities, and Unclear Moments Read for the Author’s Choices Generate Questions that Have More than One Possible Answer State Tentative AnswersReading Closely by Annotating X. J. Kennedy, Death of a Window Washer (poem) Further Strategies for Close Reading Identify Characters’ Emotions Edward Hirsch, Execution (poem) Identify Speech Acts Daniel Orozco, Orientation (story)Using Topics of Literary Studies to Get Ideas Lynda Hull, Night Waitress (poem)Summing Up

3. How to Make Arguments about Literature What Is Argument? Jamaica Kincaid, Girl (story)Strategies for Making Arguments about Literature Identify an Issue Make a Claim Aim to Persuade Consider Your Audience Gather and Present Evidence Explain Your Reasoning Identify Your Assumptions Make Use of AppealsA Sample Student Argument about Literature *Ann Schumwalt, The Mother’s Mixed Messages in “Girl” Looking at Literature as Argument John Milton, When I Consider How My Light Is Spent (poem) Robert Frost, Mending Wall (poem) *Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal (essay) *Neil Gaiman, Babycakes (story)Summing Up

4. The Writing Process William Wordsworth, The Solitary Reaper (poem)Strategies for ExploringStrategies for Planning Choose a Text Identify Your Audience Identify Your Issue, Claim, and Evidence Identify Your Assumptions Determine Your OrganizationStrategies for Composing Decide on a Title Make Choices about Your Style Draft an Introduction Limit Plot Summary Decide How to Refer to the Author’s Life and Intentions Recognize and Avoid Logical FallaciesFirst Draft of a Student Paper Abby Hazelton, The Passage of Time in “The Solitary Reaper”Strategies for Revising A Checklist for RevisingRevised Draft of a Student Paper Abby Hazelton, The Passage of Time in “The Solitary Reaper”Strategies for Writing a Comparative Paper Don Paterson, Two Trees (poem) Luisa A. Igloria, Regarding History (poem) List Similarities and Differences

6. Writing Researched Arguments Identify an Issue and a Tentative Claim Search for Sources in the Library and OnlineEvaluate the Sources Strategies for Working with SourcesStrategies for Integrating Sources Strategies for Documenting Sources (MLA Format) MLA In-Text Citation MLA Works Cited Five Annotated Student Research Papers A Paper that Uses a Literary Work to Examine Social Issues Sarah Michaels, “The Yellow Wallpaper” as a Guide to Social Factors in Postpartum DepressionA Paper that Deals with Existing Interpretations of a Literary Work Katie Johnson, The Meaning of the Husband’s Fainting in “The Yellow Wallpaper”A Paper that Analyzes a Literary Work through the Framework of a Particular Theorist Jacob Grobowicz, Using Foucault to Understand Disciplinary Power in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”A Paper that Places a Literary Work in Historical and Cultural Context Brittany Thomas, The Relative Absence of the Human Touch in “The Yellow Wallpaper” *A Paper that Places a Literary Work in a Multimedia Context *Kyra Blaylock, Different Kinds of Horrifying Images in “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “A Salem Witch” *Making a Multimedia Presentation about a Literary WorkSumming UpContexts for Research: Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper Cultural Contexts Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Why I Wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper” S. Weir Mitchell, From The Evolution of the Rest Treatment John Harvey Kellogg, From The Ladies’ Guide in Health and Disease

Family Dramas: Re-Visions of a Play Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie Christopher Durang, For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls

A Family’s Dreams: Cultural Contexts for a PlayLorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun Cultural Contexts:The Crisis, The Hansberrys of Chicago: They Join Business Acumen with Social Vision Lorraine Hansberry, April 23, 1964, Letter to the New York Times Alan Ehrenhalt, From The Lost City: Discovering the Forgotten Virtues of Community in the Chicago of the 1950s Sidney Poitier, From The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography

*Love as a Haven: Cultural Contexts for a Poem Matthew Arnold, Dover Beach Cultural Contexts: *Charles Dickens, from Hard Times *Friedrich Engels, from The Condition of the Working Class in England *James Eli Adams, Narrating Nature: Darwin

Remembering the Death Camps: PoemsMartin Niemoller, First They Came for the Jews Nelly Sachs, Chorus of the Rescued Marianne Cohn, I Shall Betray Tomorrow Karen Gershon, Race Anne Sexton, After Auschwitz

A Creative Confinement: A Collection of Poems by Emily DickinsonEmily Dickinson, Wild Nights--Wild Nights! *Emily Dickinson, Tell all the Truth but tell it slant--*Emily Dickinson, Much Madness is divinest Sense*Emily Dickinson, I’m Nobody! Who are you?

A Door to Freedom: Cultural Contexts for a Play Henrik Ibsen, A Doll’s House Cultural Contexts *August Strindberg, On A Doll’s House *Emma Goldman, Review of A Doll’s House *Joan Templeton, The Doll House Backlash: Criticism, Feminism, and Ibsen *Susanna Rustin, Why A Doll’s House Is More Relevant than Ever

Dreams of Justice: A Collection of Works by Langston HughesLangston Hughes, Let America Be America Again (poem)Langston Hughes, Theme for English B (poem)Langston Hughes, Harlem (poem)*Langston Hughes, On the Road (story)

A Menacing Stalker: Cultural Contexts for a StoryJoyce Carol Oates, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been Cultural Contexts *Don Moser, The Pied Piper of Tucson *Joyce Carol Oates, Smooth Talk: Short Story into Film *Margaret Talbot, from Gone Girl: The Extraordinary Resilience of Elizabeth Smart

Misfit Justice: Critical Commentaries on a Story Flannery O’Connor, A Good Man Is Hard to Find Critical Commentaries Flannery O’Connor, From Mystery and Manners Martha Stephens, From The Question of Flannery O’Connor Stephen Bandy, From “‘One of My Babies’: The Misfit and the Grandmother” John Desmond, From “Flannery O’Connor’s Misfit and the Mystery of Evil”

Roads Taken: A Collection of Poems by Robert FrostRobert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken Robert Frost, Acquainted with the Night *Robert Frost, The Gift Outright

A Journey to Death: Poems Mary Oliver, When Death Comes John Donne, Death Be Not Proud Dylan Thomas, Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night Wislawa Szymborska, On Death, without Exaggeration *Emily Dickinson, Because I could not stop for Death

From City to Country: Critical Commentaries on a Play*Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being EarnestCritical Commentaries: *Sol Eltis, From Revising Wilde: Society and Subversion in the Plays of Oscar Wilde *Tirthankar Bose, From “Oscar Wilde’s Game of Being Earnest” *Patricia Flanagan Behrendt, From Oscar Wilde: Eros and Aesthetics *Charles Isherwood, From “A Stylish Monster Conquers at a Glance”

John Schilb

John Schilb (PhD, State University of New York—Binghamton) is a professor of English at Indiana University, Bloomington, where he holds the Culbertson Chair in Writing. He has coedited Contending with Words: Composition and Rhetoric in a Postmodern Age, and with John Clifford, Writing Theory and Critical Theory. He is author of Between the Lines: Relating Composition Theory and Literary Theory and Rhetorical Refusals: Defying Audiences’ Expectations.

John Clifford

John Clifford (PhD, New York University) is a professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Editor of The Experience of Reading: Louis Rosenblatt and Reader-Response Theory, he has published numerous scholarly articles on pedagogy, critical theory, and composition theory, most recently in College English and Relations, Locations, Positions: Composition Theory for Writing Teachers.

The literature-for-composition anthology that makes literature—and writing—matter to students

THIS TITLE HAS BEEN UPDATED TO REFLECT THE 2016 MLA UPDATES! Our editorial team has updated this text based on content from The MLA Handbook, 8th Edition. Browse our catalog or contact your representative for a full listing of updated titles and packages, or to request a custom ISBN.Students have always responded powerfully to the memorable stories, poems, plays, and essays gathered in distinctive clusters in Making Literature Matter’s thematic anthology. At the same time, the book’s chapters on reading, writing and research help students harness those responses into persuasive, well-supported arguments about the issues raised by the literature. As ever, the new edition of Making Literature Matter reflects John Schilb and John Clifford’s careful attention to emerging pedagogical needs and trends. In response to instructor requests, they have expanded their treatment of argumentation and research, and refined their approach to literary genres. Further, they read widely to identify some of the most engaging fiction, poetry, drama, and nonfiction published recently, and based their new choices for the sixth edition on how well that literature raises and explores issues that matter to students right now.

Table of Contents

*New to this edition

PART ONE: WORKING WITH LITERATURE

1. What Is Literature? How and Why Does It Matter? James Wright, Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota (poem) How Have People Defined Literature?What Makes Literature “Literature”? Maxine Kumin, Woodchucks (poem) *Lydia Davis, The Outing (story)Why Study Literature in a College Writing Course?What Can You Do to Make Literature Matter to Others?Summing Up

2. How to Read Closely Basic Strategies for Close ReadingClose Readings of a Poem Sharon Olds, Summer Solstice, New York City (poem)Applying the Strategies

Make Predictions Reflect on One’s Personal Background Read for Patterns and for Breaks in Patterns Read for Puzzles, Ambiguities, and Unclear Moments Read for the Author’s Choices Generate Questions that Have More than One Possible Answer State Tentative AnswersReading Closely by Annotating X. J. Kennedy, Death of a Window Washer (poem) Further Strategies for Close Reading Identify Characters’ Emotions Edward Hirsch, Execution (poem) Identify Speech Acts Daniel Orozco, Orientation (story)Using Topics of Literary Studies to Get Ideas Lynda Hull, Night Waitress (poem)Summing Up

3. How to Make Arguments about Literature What Is Argument? Jamaica Kincaid, Girl (story)Strategies for Making Arguments about Literature Identify an Issue Make a Claim Aim to Persuade Consider Your Audience Gather and Present Evidence Explain Your Reasoning Identify Your Assumptions Make Use of AppealsA Sample Student Argument about Literature *Ann Schumwalt, The Mother’s Mixed Messages in “Girl” Looking at Literature as Argument John Milton, When I Consider How My Light Is Spent (poem) Robert Frost, Mending Wall (poem) *Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal (essay) *Neil Gaiman, Babycakes (story)Summing Up

4. The Writing Process William Wordsworth, The Solitary Reaper (poem)Strategies for ExploringStrategies for Planning Choose a Text Identify Your Audience Identify Your Issue, Claim, and Evidence Identify Your Assumptions Determine Your OrganizationStrategies for Composing Decide on a Title Make Choices about Your Style Draft an Introduction Limit Plot Summary Decide How to Refer to the Author’s Life and Intentions Recognize and Avoid Logical FallaciesFirst Draft of a Student Paper Abby Hazelton, The Passage of Time in “The Solitary Reaper”Strategies for Revising A Checklist for RevisingRevised Draft of a Student Paper Abby Hazelton, The Passage of Time in “The Solitary Reaper”Strategies for Writing a Comparative Paper Don Paterson, Two Trees (poem) Luisa A. Igloria, Regarding History (poem) List Similarities and Differences

6. Writing Researched Arguments Identify an Issue and a Tentative Claim Search for Sources in the Library and OnlineEvaluate the Sources Strategies for Working with SourcesStrategies for Integrating Sources Strategies for Documenting Sources (MLA Format) MLA In-Text Citation MLA Works Cited Five Annotated Student Research Papers A Paper that Uses a Literary Work to Examine Social Issues Sarah Michaels, “The Yellow Wallpaper” as a Guide to Social Factors in Postpartum DepressionA Paper that Deals with Existing Interpretations of a Literary Work Katie Johnson, The Meaning of the Husband’s Fainting in “The Yellow Wallpaper”A Paper that Analyzes a Literary Work through the Framework of a Particular Theorist Jacob Grobowicz, Using Foucault to Understand Disciplinary Power in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”A Paper that Places a Literary Work in Historical and Cultural Context Brittany Thomas, The Relative Absence of the Human Touch in “The Yellow Wallpaper” *A Paper that Places a Literary Work in a Multimedia Context *Kyra Blaylock, Different Kinds of Horrifying Images in “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “A Salem Witch” *Making a Multimedia Presentation about a Literary WorkSumming UpContexts for Research: Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper Cultural Contexts Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Why I Wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper” S. Weir Mitchell, From The Evolution of the Rest Treatment John Harvey Kellogg, From The Ladies’ Guide in Health and Disease

Family Dramas: Re-Visions of a Play Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie Christopher Durang, For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls

A Family’s Dreams: Cultural Contexts for a PlayLorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun Cultural Contexts:The Crisis, The Hansberrys of Chicago: They Join Business Acumen with Social Vision Lorraine Hansberry, April 23, 1964, Letter to the New York Times Alan Ehrenhalt, From The Lost City: Discovering the Forgotten Virtues of Community in the Chicago of the 1950s Sidney Poitier, From The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography

*Love as a Haven: Cultural Contexts for a Poem Matthew Arnold, Dover Beach Cultural Contexts: *Charles Dickens, from Hard Times *Friedrich Engels, from The Condition of the Working Class in England *James Eli Adams, Narrating Nature: Darwin

Remembering the Death Camps: PoemsMartin Niemoller, First They Came for the Jews Nelly Sachs, Chorus of the Rescued Marianne Cohn, I Shall Betray Tomorrow Karen Gershon, Race Anne Sexton, After Auschwitz

A Creative Confinement: A Collection of Poems by Emily DickinsonEmily Dickinson, Wild Nights--Wild Nights! *Emily Dickinson, Tell all the Truth but tell it slant--*Emily Dickinson, Much Madness is divinest Sense*Emily Dickinson, I’m Nobody! Who are you?

A Door to Freedom: Cultural Contexts for a Play Henrik Ibsen, A Doll’s House Cultural Contexts *August Strindberg, On A Doll’s House *Emma Goldman, Review of A Doll’s House *Joan Templeton, The Doll House Backlash: Criticism, Feminism, and Ibsen *Susanna Rustin, Why A Doll’s House Is More Relevant than Ever

Dreams of Justice: A Collection of Works by Langston HughesLangston Hughes, Let America Be America Again (poem)Langston Hughes, Theme for English B (poem)Langston Hughes, Harlem (poem)*Langston Hughes, On the Road (story)

A Menacing Stalker: Cultural Contexts for a StoryJoyce Carol Oates, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been Cultural Contexts *Don Moser, The Pied Piper of Tucson *Joyce Carol Oates, Smooth Talk: Short Story into Film *Margaret Talbot, from Gone Girl: The Extraordinary Resilience of Elizabeth Smart

Misfit Justice: Critical Commentaries on a Story Flannery O’Connor, A Good Man Is Hard to Find Critical Commentaries Flannery O’Connor, From Mystery and Manners Martha Stephens, From The Question of Flannery O’Connor Stephen Bandy, From “‘One of My Babies’: The Misfit and the Grandmother” John Desmond, From “Flannery O’Connor’s Misfit and the Mystery of Evil”

Roads Taken: A Collection of Poems by Robert FrostRobert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken Robert Frost, Acquainted with the Night *Robert Frost, The Gift Outright

A Journey to Death: Poems Mary Oliver, When Death Comes John Donne, Death Be Not Proud Dylan Thomas, Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night Wislawa Szymborska, On Death, without Exaggeration *Emily Dickinson, Because I could not stop for Death

From City to Country: Critical Commentaries on a Play*Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being EarnestCritical Commentaries: *Sol Eltis, From Revising Wilde: Society and Subversion in the Plays of Oscar Wilde *Tirthankar Bose, From “Oscar Wilde’s Game of Being Earnest” *Patricia Flanagan Behrendt, From Oscar Wilde: Eros and Aesthetics *Charles Isherwood, From “A Stylish Monster Conquers at a Glance”

John Schilb

John Schilb (PhD, State University of New York—Binghamton) is a professor of English at Indiana University, Bloomington, where he holds the Culbertson Chair in Writing. He has coedited Contending with Words: Composition and Rhetoric in a Postmodern Age, and with John Clifford, Writing Theory and Critical Theory. He is author of Between the Lines: Relating Composition Theory and Literary Theory and Rhetorical Refusals: Defying Audiences’ Expectations.

John Clifford

John Clifford (PhD, New York University) is a professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Editor of The Experience of Reading: Louis Rosenblatt and Reader-Response Theory, he has published numerous scholarly articles on pedagogy, critical theory, and composition theory, most recently in College English and Relations, Locations, Positions: Composition Theory for Writing Teachers.